EEC RAKES IN E532M PROFIT

MBABANE – Talk about money! The Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) declared that it had about E532 million profit for the financial year ended in March 2018.

The 2017/2018 profit shows an increase of E388 million compared to the previous year where the company recorded E144 million in profits.This was announced by EEC Board Chairman S’thofeni Ginindza during a media briefing held at the company’s conference room yesterday.

Ginindza said this money would come in handy during the predicted drought period expected to hit the country later this year. He explained that the company could not apply for another tariff hike at this point, so it had to rely on its funds to ensure that it did not have to apply measures such as load-shedding.

Ginindza said these were unqualified accounts. He said the money might look sizable, though it would be used during the drought period. He stated that they were not ignorant of the issue of electricity affordability and were trying to find ways of making electricity affordable.“We are working towards affordability,” Ginindza said.

Clarifying the millions of Emalangeni in profits, EEC Managing Director Meshack Kunene said this figure included assets, adding that it was possible that the actual monitory profit after deductions was around E3 million.

Expanding on the drought, Kunene said they were keeping tabs on weather predictions, as that had an effect on their business. He said the weather contributed to their predictions as to how much tariff hike they would apply for next year from Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (EERA). He explained that the likelihood of rain informed them how much electricity they were likely to produce.